Yangon High Court Sets Date to Review Aung Yell Htwe Murder Case

The suspects in the killing of Aung Yell Htwe arrive for a hearing at Thingangyun Township Court in Yangon on Jan. 18. / The Irrawaddy

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By The Irrawaddy 10 August 2018

YANGON— The Yangon Region High Court will review the controversial decision to drop the murder case against the alleged killers of Facebook comedian Aung Yell Htwe on Aug. 29.

The date of the hearing was announced on the High Court’s official Facebook page on Aug. 8, a day after the three suspects responded to a summons issued by the court.

The three suspects in the fatal beating of Aung Yell Htwe — Than Htut Aung (a.k.a Thar Gyi), Pyae Phyo Aung (a.k.a Aung Lay) and Kyaw Zaw Han (a.k.a Kyaw Zaw) — were released from jail on July 25 after the Yangon Eastern District Court accepted an appeal from the victim’s family asking to settle the case.

Following the intervention of state leaders and with public criticism mounting over the dropping of the case, the Union Attorney General’s Office ordered the Yangon Region attorney general to annul the court’s decision to dismiss the case and to resume the trial on July 30.

On the same day, the Yangon Region Attorney General U Han Htoo, who had approved the request of the victim’s family to abandon the case, addressed the High Court to seek a review of the court’s decision.

Daw Nwe Nwe Oo, the media and communications officer and deputy director of the High Court, told The Irrawaddy last week that the court would decide whether to annul the lower court’s decision to drop the case after both the Yangon Region attorney general and the defendants present their arguments at the next High Court hearing.